Some thoughts following Cornell's 35-14 win over Georgetown Saturday:
1. A Slow Start: Expectations were certainly guarded entering this season with so many underclassmen in the starting lineup, but few had Georgetown staring at 0-4 heading into the Bucknell game Saturday. One number jumps out of the stat sheet, however.
35-0.
That's the combined score at the end of the first quarters of the previous four games. The Hoyas have spotted its opponents five touchdowns in four games without a single point in the first quarter. For a program which isn't well suited for comebacks, this is digging a hole to which it can't easily recover. By halftime, that number is 69-28.
Saturday's game was an early knockout of sort from a less likely suspect: the defense. Georgetown gave up consecutive touchdowns to open the first and the third quarter and never really recovered nor threatened. Subbing Gavin Beard for Jack Johnson at quarterback offered some variety but didn't move the needle as far as the offense goes, while the defense gave up 5.5 yards per rushing carry and nearly 15 yards on a pass completion. Following two games that could have swung to the win column, the Cornell game was a mixture of a letdown versus a team that wasn't quite ready for its opponent.
Let's be candid: Cornell isn't Lehigh. The Big Red haven't posted a winning record since 2005 and even a 2-0 start in Ithaca could swing quickly: Cornell 's next four games at with Harvard, Lehigh, and two road games at Brown and Dartmouth. Entering the game, this looked like an opportunity for Georgetown to get a win or, at the very least, be competitive with Cornell as it was with Columbia. It was not.
It may be presumptuous to say that Saturday's game with Bucknell is a must-win, but for a program facing only more home game for the remainder of the season, Georgetown has to step up.
2. National Rankings: How are the Hoyas favoring across FCS? With a slow start, perhaps, the numbers below (out of 124 schools) aren't surprising.
- Scoring: 109th
- Points Allowed: 72nd
- Rushing Offense: 100th
- Passing Offense: 95th
- Total Offense: 107th
- Rushing Defense: 97th
- Passing Defense: 117th
- Total Defense: 119th
- Time Of Possession: 122nd
3. Playing The Ivies: For two decades, it's been a mantra of sorts within Georgetown football that the Hoyas should be playing schools from the Ivy League. Should they?
The roots to this story date to the late 1990s. Head coach Bob Benson sold the University on the concept of playing peer institutions as the path forward; even if the MAAC-level Hoyas were a few steps below the Ivies, there was no such thing as peer institutions among the likes of Canisius, Iona, Fairfield, or St. Peter's.
Georgetown's 42-20 win at Cornell in 2003 was the high water-mark for the Benson era and seemed to validate his confidence in the prospect, but GU caught the Big Red at a low point, finishing 1-9 for its worst record since 1977. Since then, the matchups with the Ancient Eight have been largely one-sided:
- 1-7 versus Brown
- 4-8 versus Columbia
- 2-3 versus Cornell
- 0-2 versus Dartmouth
- 0-5 versus Harvard
- 0-4 versus Penn
- 1-3 versus Princeton
- 0-6 versus Yale
There are structural as well as competitive reasons for this imbalance. While Ivy League schools share the same philosophy with Georgetown over need-based non-scholarship football, the Ivies reach a larger pool of prospect with financial aid that is much more favorable than what Georgetown provides. A family with a household income of up to $175,000 pays $0 to attend Dartmouth--Georgetown cannot match this, whether they play football or not. Competitively speaking, the upper tier Ivy schools have deeper institutional commitment in supporting football and their name value attracts a caliber of student-athlete who will, more often than not, choose a Harvard or a Yale over Georgetown (or any PL school) if given the choice. It's no surprise, therefore, that Georgetown is a combined 0-11 versus Harvard and Yale and six of its eight total wins versus the Ancient Eight since 2003 have come against just two schools, the two schools it scheduled in 2026: Columbia and Cornell.
Assuming Columbia and Cornell return to the schedule in 2027, but going forward, does Georgetown have options for that remaining game in the non-conference? Theoretically, yes, but practically, not so much.
Coach Sgarlata doesn't seek guarantee games, GU doesn't play one-off road games that involve travel outside the East, HBCU's aren't that interested in a series, and the number of non-conference opponents in the Northeast outside the Ivy League and without scholarships numbers just one: Marist, who signed a seven year deal with NEC newcomer New Haven for its traditional season openers and would more likely prefer playing local opponents than traveling to Washington DC. A pending series with VMI was bumped out to 2035-36, so that's one fewer candidate in the mix as well.
Unless and until Georgetown takes a more adventurous approach with scheduling that takes into account opponents where it does not get a return game back to Washington, its options are going to be limited. That type of scheduling often leads to losses, and that's not an attractive option when a team is staring at, say, 0-4. Amidst the strength of the PL schedule, GU needs wins in September, not body bag outcomes.
4. Around The PL:
Harvard 20, Colgate 17: In a game whose finish made it to ESPM and more than a few highlight shows over the weekend Harvard's 20-17 win before 9,100 at Harvard Stadium was a touch one for Colgate fans. Trailing 14-10 in a closely contested game, Jake Stearney led the Red Raiders on a 13 play, 75 yard drive to take the lead with 27 seconds to play. On the final play of the game, Harvard QB let loose a 44 yard pass to the end zone that was about six yards short. Teigan Pelletier caught the pass at the six, but with no avenue to the goal line, lateraled it to a trailing Nathan Bailey for the score. The Crimson won despite just 93 yards rushing for the game.
Richmond 40, Lafayette 31: Two teams heading in different directions saw the Spiders rally from a 24-7 deficit in the second quarter to stun the home standing Leopards before 4,123 at Fisher Stadium. Ashten Snelsire was 24 for 38 for 218 yards and three touchdowns as the Spiders improved to 5-1 while Lafayette dropped to 1-4.
Holy Cross 41, William & Mary 24: Another example of teams rising and falling, as Holy Cross won its second straight game with a flourish, dominating the Tribe before 8.476 at Zable Stadium. HC led 24-7 at halftime and was never challenged, outrushing W&M 203 to 31 and forcing three Tribe turnovers.
Lehigh 34, Fordham 0: No upset plans in this one, as the #7 Engineers controlled the Rams throughout before 5,033 at Goodman Stadium. Luke Yoder rushed 20 times for 171 yards as Lehigh held Fordham to just 42 rushing yards and forced five turnovers.
Morgan State 38, Villanova 35: A back and forth game before 3,463 at Villanova Stadium saw Morgan QB Cameron Edge complete five of five passes in the final two minutes to go ahead with 36 seconds to play. Villanova drove 37 yards in seven plays but a field goal try at game end veered right. At 2-4, Villanova is a surprising early out for playoff consideration.
A number of PL teams are on bye weeks this week. Outside of GU-Bucknell, just two games are on the October 10 schedule, with William & Mary at North Carolina Central and Richmond at Fordham.
